Terms and Conditions by R. Sikoryak

Master satirist tackles the contract everyone agrees to but no one reads

For his newest project, R. Sikoryak tackles the monstrously and infamously dense legal document, iTunes Terms and Conditions, the contract everyone agrees to but no one reads. In a word for word 94-page adaptation, Sikoryak hilariously turns the agreement on its head – each page features an avatar of Apple cofounder and legendary visionary Steve Jobs juxtaposed with a different classic strip such as Mort Walker’s Beatle Bailey, or a contemporary graphic novel such as Craig Thompson’s Blankets or Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.

Adapting the legalese of the iTunes Terms and Conditions into another medium seems like an unfathomable undertaking, yet Sikoryak creates a surprisingly readable document, far different from its original, purely textual incarnation and thus proving the accessibility and flexibility of comics. When Sikoryak parodies Kate Beaton’s Hark A Vagrant peasant comics with Steve Jobs discussing objectionable material or Homer Simpson as Steve Jobs warning of the penalties of copyright infringement, Terms and Conditions serves as a surreal record of our modern digital age where technology competes with enduringly ironclad mediums.

Praise for Terms and Conditions

Juxtaposing the dull subject matter against the artistic variety and Sikoryak's skill makes for surprisingly engaging reading -- proof, if it were needed, that comics make everything better.

Each page is a loving tribute to a comic book that Sikoryak loves or respects… Sikoryak hasn’t just thrown the text at random pictures; he appears to have actually read this thing through and selected from the vast historic tapestry of comic book imagery a highly appropriate sequence that seems to suit the relevant quoted words perfectly.

Awesome” and “inspiring” probably aren’t the words that leap to mind when you scroll through Apple’s iTunes contract — but that’s about to change… Artist Robert Sikoryak has been converting the “unabridged” legal text… into a series of gorgeous comic parodies.

It’s a prodigious feat of pastiche that gives rise to multiple interpretations... Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics) is an undeniably talented artist with a keen ability to capture different styles, as well as a sly conceptual satirist and prankster. Few will ever actually read these terms and conditions, but that’s basically the point.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Terms and Conditions serves as a surreal record of our modern digital age in which the rules for our tools have become Bible-length, and just as sacred.

Mischievous, pastiche-heavy artist Robert Sikoryak…upped the difficulty level for his long-term conceptual project: Instead of abridging a book, he lifted the complete text of Apple’s mind-numbing corporate boilerplate, which users must agree to before accessing iTunes, and mashed it up with art invoking more than a century of comics.

Mischievous, pastiche-heavy artist Robert Sikoryak…upped the difficulty level for his long-term conceptual project: Instead of abridging a book, he lifted the complete text of Apple’s mind-numbing corporate boilerplate, which users must agree to before accessing iTunes, and mashed it up with art invoking more than a century of comics.

Outside of the novelty of such a project (and its usefulness, since you're far more likely to actually read the godforsaken thing now) the best part is seeing Sikoryak style every page into a different comics homage.

T&C prose is thus a kind of oracle, read by none, dreaded by all. The fact that its gibberish can be made to seem sensible when randomly juxtaposed with comics mashups tells you that it has no meaning of its own, but rather takes on all its meaning from the context around it.

Adapting the legalese of the iTunes Terms and Conditions into another medium seems like an unfathomable undertaking, yet Sikoryak creates a surprisingly readable document, far different from its original, purely textual incarnation and thus proving the accessibility and flexibility of comics.